Free The Covenant of Genesis by Andy McDermott Page A

risking our lives.’
    Bejo gave him a nervous look. ‘Good luck, Mr Eddie. Try not to die, hey?’
    ‘That’s part of the plan. Actually, that’s the whole plan.’ Chase submerged once more.
    He swam the short distance to the side of the dock. Surfacing between two of the pontoon sections, he checked on his enemies. The RIB driver’s back was now to him as he looked up at the Pianosa , and the speedboat had moved away to lurk near the ship’s stern.
    Now or never.
    Chase pulled himself out of the water, lying flat on the decking close to the dead crewman. Scattered all about him was the expedition’s diving gear. He crawled along the dock. The boxes and crates would keep him hidden from the men in the speedboat for at least part of the way, meaning he only had to worry about the boatman. The pirate was still facing away, now swinging his Kalashnikov half-heartedly from its strap. Amateur , Chase thought with disdain, but it would only take one shout from him to raise the alarm . . .
    He passed the plane’s tail. No more cover, but he had barely ten feet to go to reach the cockpit. He looked round the last crate for the speedboat. It was moving slowly away from him, a couple of men standing and peering into the water to each side, guns ready.
    If he moved quickly enough, he could make it before anyone saw him.
    One last glance back at the boatman—
    He was staring right at Chase. His expression was almost quizzical, as if he was wondering why there were now two bodies lying on the dock when there had only been one before . . . until his brain finally registered that one of them had just moved .
    He fumbled with his AK.
    Caught in the open, Chase was about to dive back into the water when he saw something lying nearby.
    His speargun.
    He snatched it up as the pirate brought his rifle to bear—
    Chase fired first. The spear lanced down the length of the dock - and hit the pirate square in the chest, the Magnum round at its head blowing a fist-sized hole in his ribcage.
    The dead man slumped backwards. But the pirates in the speedboat had heard the noise.
    Chase dropped the empty speargun and dived back into the water as they started shooting.
     
    The pirate leader kicked open the lab door, sweeping his gun from side to side before stepping inside.
    Nina watched through the narrow slit of her hiding place. More men entered the lab behind him. For a moment, it was as if he was staring right at her. Then he moved out of sight, whispering something in his native language.
    The only reason he would have to whisper was if he thought there was a danger of being overheard. He knew she was in here. She froze, not even daring to breathe.
    The leader stepped slowly round the table, boots crunching on broken glass as he headed for the storage cabinet in one corner. Finger on his AK’s trigger, he reached out, gripped the locker’s handle . . . and yanked it open, aiming his gun inside—
    A small wave of items clattered to the floor at his feet. The locker contained nothing but archaeological kit, tools used to examine and clean artefacts recovered from the sea. One of the pirates giggled.
    The leader glared at him, immediately silencing the laugh, then gave an order. All but two of his men left the room to continue the hunt.
    The leader, however, moved back to the table. He had found what he was looking for.
    Nina’s laptop, the expedition’s cameras . . . and the clay tablet.
    He brushed the broken pieces of the magnifying lens off the latter and picked it up, giving the strange text a cursory glance before shoving it into a large satchel. Then he turned his attention to the computer, unfolding a scrap of paper and reading the list on it.
    Crunched up painfully inside the sonar array’s case, the device itself now propped against one wall, Nina struggled to see what he was doing. He seemed to be looking for particular files. He tapped on the keyboard, performing a search, then smiled as it came up with a result. He